Team:Worldshaper-Nanjing/Collaborations
Sammury
In this iGEM season, our Worldshaper-Nanjing team collaborated with other iGEM teams frequently throughout preparation for the contest. We have collaborated with Worldshaper-Shanghai, ASTWS-China, and Jiangnan_China in multiple forms, including mentorship with Jiangnan_China, participating in Meetup , and hosting public activities.
Be mentored by Jiangnan_China
- We are very grateful that Jiangnan_China from Jiangnan University can serve as our mentor to give guidance to our high school team. Since their project is also relevant to metabolic pathways and biosynthesis, we built a mentorship after the first meeting. They mainly provided guidance and help to us in the following aspects.
- During our experimental process, we had trouble extracting plasmids from the transformed E.Coli cells. The plasmid concentration was constantly too low, while the metal ion levels were higher than acceptable value. We communicated with Jiangnan_China, and they pointed out possible procedural mistakes we could have made to cause invalid results. After adjusting our experimental procedures (eg: changing the high-fidelity polymerase) according to Jiangnan_China’s suggestions, we succeeded in extracting the plasmids, which were essential for later stages of the experiment.
- When designing and making our wiki, we encountered many technical problems that we could not solve independently. As we asked Jiangnan_China for specific help, they gave us very patient answers and shared their wiki production guide with us (Figure) that involved a summary of their experience in making wiki. It is helpful for the production of our subsequent wiki making.
• Useful suggestion on iGEM competition
- In the whole iGEM 2020 season, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have encountered many problems, such as how to hold online public education activities. Their activity of the "drifting bottle" has opened up our minds. And as a high school team, we have insufficient knowledge and skills. With the guidance and help of Jiangnan_China, we performed better in the iGEM competition in this special year.
- We sincerely thank Jiangnan_China for their guidance and help this year.
Collaborations in Holding Online High School Meetups
- In August, our team participated in an online meet up held by ASWTS-China and Worldshaper-Shanghai. The main content of the meetup was to share our project design and progress on public education and engagement, as well as provide each other with valuable advice. Six teams participated in the online meetup, and communicated their project design, and how they overcame difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic and carried out scientific communication and public education.
- During the meetup, our team learnt about other teams’ innovations, which were very inspiring and provided insight for our project, especially the public education part. We communicated on how to effectively convey a rather deep and expert information to the general public, such as topics concerning experimental procedures and terminology. To allow a better understanding of our project for the public, we can post updates on our team account on WeChat, in the mean time making sure the language is simple and understandable. To achieve this, we put in numerous pictures to demonstrate what we are talking about, and uses analogies and metaphors to describe PCR, western blot, and the difficult metabolic processes of yeast cells that we are modifying.
- Besides from accessibility of information for public, the teams also exchanged advice on how to draw public attention by using souvenirs like keychains, stationeries, and other small gifts bearing team logos. This was especially important for us because our project about stale grains tend not to draw as much public interest and attention as other projects on colon cancer or microplastic cleaning. By using these small techniques, we can draw more public attention and raise awareness of stale grains issues in China.
Collaboration in public activities
- In order to draw public attention to stale grains issues in China and introduce our project, Worldshaper_Nanjing participated in a science exhibition held in Hangzhou at Hangzhou Grand Theatre together with Worldshaper-Shanghai and ASTWS-China. We have jointly completed the venue layout and publicity work, as well as prepare for the fair setup and public interaction games and events. Interactive games include a DNA puzzle, children's books to attract young kids who came to the exhibition, leaflets introducing iGEM and our team, and a video about our project. The above three teams collaborated on the introduction for the iGEM competition and synthetic biology, which are common to all our programs. Additionally, our team is mainly responsible for the contact and communication with the producers of promotional materials including team banners, leaflets, and posters. When we ran out of supplies, the other two teams gave us theirs. At the same time, we would also recommend visitors to each other's exhibition area to further learn others' projects.
